A few small objects dimple
the surface of a muddy river. They could be rocks, a fallen branch perhaps.
Or maybe they are the eyes and snout of a fifty-foot-long dinosaur-eating
crocodile. There is no way to tell for certain, and in Deinosuchus territory
a thirsty dinosaur is a nervous dinosaur.

The jaws of Deinosuchus,
or "terrible crocodile," are as long as a grown man is tall. The lower
jaw lacks the sort of fixed socket that humans have, and Deinosuchus can
open its mouth wide enough to clamp onto the bellies or legs of all but
the biggest hadrosaurs. Deinosuchus' sharp conical teeth are not designed
to cut flesh or stab into vital areas, but to pin and trap their prey.
After a successful shoreline ambush, Deinosuchus will drag their struggling
prey to deeper water to tire and drown it before eating.

Deinosuchus originally lived
at the same time as many dinosaurs but is not actually a dinosaur itself.
Like modern alligators and crocodiles, Deinosuchus comes from the Crocodylidae
family. Once found near rivers, swamps and inland seas from Texas to New
Jersey, Deinosuchus still prefers to spend the majority of its life either
in or very near the water.

Like the crocodiles of today,
Deinosuchus makes an impressive variety of calls, hisses, and cough-like
grunts. Starting from the day they hatch, they use these calls to convey
distress, to warn or threaten, and, as they grow, to court suitable mates.
All this communication does not add up to a polite society however: Deinosuchus
will eat their own kind given the chance.